Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro has said the club has a "gentleman's agreement" with head coach Xabi Alonso that means he could leave the Bundesliga side to take over at one of the clubs he represented as a player, including Real Madrid and Liverpool, should he wish to do so.

Alonso's future and the possibility that he may succeed Carlo Ancelotti in the summer has been the subject of growing speculation after Real Madrid's exit from the Champions League quarterfinals and below-par showing in LaLiga this season.

"In a few weeks, we'll know if there's a coaching change at our clubs, but the fact is that we're a very professional club and we have to be prepared for anything," Carro told reporters on Monday.

"From the moment we signed Xabi, we knew he was going to be a great coach, and from the moment you sign one, you have to prepare others. His signing wasn't just a one-off. First, we signed him for a year and a half until 2024, and then until 2026.

"By signing him until 2026, we had confidence he'd stay. We can sleep peacefully, have a good breakfast, and be prepared for any eventuality. We have a gentleman's agreement, and if a team he's played for comes along, we can sit down."

Alonso played for Real Sociedad, Eibar (on loan), Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich during his playing career.

The former Madrid midfielder has been head coach of Bayer Leverkusen since October 2022 and has led the perennial underachievers from second bottom of the table to an unbeaten Bundesliga triumph last season. Under his tutelage, Leverkusen have also lifted the DFB-Pokal, DFL-Supercup and finished as runners-up in the Europa League where they lost in the final to Atalanta.

Alonso was also heavily linked with the Liverpool job after Jürgen Klopp's shock resignation in January 2024, but he opted to remain at Leverkusen while the Merseyside club appointed Arne Slot as manager.

In Alonso's third season in charge, Leverkusen trail league leaders Bayern by eight points with four matches remaining. They were knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern at the round-of-16 stage.

Carro said he is keen for Leverkusen to see out the remainder of his Leverkusen contract and that the club would like him to extend the deal which is set to run until the end of next season.

"We've been working together for almost three years, and we're aware that in football, changes can occur at a club that affect others," Carro added. "We're not naive, but the truth is that the coach is important, and that's why we're preparing next season's team with him.

"He's fully involved and integrated into the preparations. If, in the end, there's interest from another club and he's interested, we have a relationship that would have to be discussed. It's not our wish, but we're clear that the decision has to be made within three or four weeks; we can't wait until the end of the season.

"I would like Real Madrid to win everything so there wouldn't be these discussions."

Carro said Alonso's willingness to continue as Leverkusen boss will be central to the discussions over his future.

"Last year, during the international break, he assured us that he would stay, despite having offers. This year we've given ourselves some time to make a decision. We're very calm, and there's not much more to say.

"There's an excellent relationship, and if there's something to talk about, we'll talk. Xabi's willingness is important; he respects us, and we respect him."

Leeds United and Burnley have been promoted to the Premier League after Scott Parker's side beat third-placed Sheffield United on Monday.

Leeds moved on to 94 points via a 6-0 win over Stoke City on Monday afternoon, before Burnley's 2-1 victory at Turf Moor put them on 94 as well and ensured Sheffield United could no longer better their rivals' tally.

"I'm speechless. All that hard work this season," said Burnley captain Josh Brownhill, who scored both of his team's goals on Monday. "We've been written off so many times, people calling us boring. We've bored our way to the Premier League.

"It takes a whole team. It's not just a back four, a goal keeper, it takes everybody. I don't think a lot of the lads will sleep. I'm so buzzing for the lads that haven't played Premier League football."

The victories ensure another two U.S.-owned clubs will enjoy the estimated revenue uplift of around $180 million that comes with a place in England's top tier.

Leeds is owned by the San Francisco-based 49ers Enterprises group, members of whom include American golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. Red Bull, the energy drink company whose other soccer interests include owning Leipzig in Germany, bought a minority stake in the club last May.

Burnley, meanwhile, has been majority-owned since 2020 by the ALK Capita investment group. The New York group is fronted by U.S. businessman Alan Pace and counts former NFL star J.J. Watts as a notable shareholder.

After clinching promotion, Watt posted on social media: "WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE!!!!!!!! Come On Burnley!!!!!"

With two games remaining, the Championship title will be decided between Leeds, who host Bristol City and finish the season away to Plymouth Argyle, and Burnley, whose remaining games include a road trip to Queens Park Rangers and a home match with Milwall.

Sheffield United are assured of a spot in the Championship playoffs along with Sunderland and two other sides for the remaining spot in the Premier League.

The race for the automatic promotion spots has been typically competitive this season, but a run of three straight defeats for Sheffield United in the first half of April spelled the end of their challenge.

Burnley have leaned on their miserly defence to secure a return to the Premier League at the first time of asking after they were relegated, along with Sheffield United, last season. Leeds dropped to the second tier in 2022-23 and lost the Championship playoff final at Wembley to Southampton in May 2024.

Scott Parker's Burnley conceded only 15 goals in 44 games and he has now achieved promotion to the Premier League with three clubs having also taken Fulham and Bournemouth up.

"This one feels more special. I've had some bumps in the road as a manager. I decided to take a year out and come in to this knowing there was a big challenge ahead. I'm relieved and happy," Parker said.

Joel Piroe scored a hat trick in the opening 20 minutes for Leeds at a raucous Elland Road and added another before halftime as the hosts stormed 5-0 ahead by the interval.

"Very proud. A lot of positives. The celebrations are amazing. We've worked all year for this," Leeds United captain Ethan Ampadu said. "Not to put a dampener on it, we've still got another target we want to achieve, so we're going to enjoy tonight and then we're going to try and do the full thing."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.

The Etihad Stadium has been the setting for some of Marcus Rashford's most memorable highlights. Like nutmegging defender Martin Demichelis to score in his first Manchester derby as a teenager in March 2016. Or his nerveless penalty in another derby win for Manchester United in December 2019. Last season, he scored arguably the best goal of his career with a fierce shot that crashed in off the underside of the crossbar.

It was almost unimaginable then -- a little over a year ago -- that it could be his last appearance in a Manchester derby, but he returns to the Etihad on Tuesday as an Aston Villa player with his career at a crossroads.

Rashford is guaranteed to spend the next month with Unai Emery's side after agreeing to a loan move in January until the end of the season, and his form -- three goals and five assists in 16 appearances -- even earned him an England recall in March after a period of exile.

What happens beyond that is up in the air.

His options are fairly clear: stay at Villa, agree to another loan move (which requires an agreement over splitting his salary), make a permanent move to a different club altogether or return to United. Sources have told ESPN another loan move has not been ruled out, as spending a season away would get the majority of Rashford's wages off the books and eat up another year of his contract. Moving to Villa Park permanently, meanwhile, would either require Rashford to take a pay cut -- something he was reluctant to do in January -- or for United to pay up part of his current contract.

Overall, Rashford's salary of around 350,000 a week remains a significant issue. Aston Villa -- who have been happy with Rashford's commitment and dedication in training and games -- have an option to make his move permanent for 40 million, which in itself is not a problem. But they can't afford to commit to a four- or five-year contract that would be worth tens of millions.

United's summer budget is already tight, but they might be backed into a corner if Ruben Amorim makes it clear there is no way back. There may yet have to be an uneasy truce during the summer -- similar to the one that saw Erik ten Hag briefly make peace with Jadon Sancho -- while the details of a move are thrashed out.

An explanation of how Rashford got here, however, depends on whom you ask.

United's staff have known for a while that his discipline and focus can fluctuate wildly. In the summer of 2022, he spent his time away from the team at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, to undergo a specifically tailored programme to focus on his fitness. He was up at 5 most mornings to train, in the gym or outside on the grass pitches with a ball, and when he returned to Carrington to meet new manager Ten Hag for the first time, the Dutchman and his staff were suitably impressed.

It was no surprise to those around the club that Rashford went from scoring five goals in 32 games during a disappointing 2021-22 campaign to reaching 30 goals in all competitions for the first time the following season. But by the summer of 2023, Ten Hag had noticed enough of a dip in Rashford's standards to issue a warning during his first news conference of United's preseason tour.

Asked a generic question about Rashford's importance ahead of the new season, Ten Hag said the striker must have "the right attitude." More telling, he went on to say that "players can't match the sensational life and play top football."

Rashford, apparently, didn't listen, and seven months later he had to be disciplined for an unauthorised trip to a Belfast nightclub the night before he was due to report to training. That infraction came not long after Ten Hag had branded Rashford's behaviour as "unacceptable" after he had chosen to host a birthday party in Manchester just hours after a heavy defeat to City.

Some staff at United can trace his shift in focus back to losing a key adviser who worked tirelessly to protect him from distractions off the field and played a central role in the campaign to fund school meals during the coronavirus pandemic. The change in his attitude, according to club sources, was summed up in the immediate aftermath of Amorim's appointment in November.

When Ten Hag came in, Rashford made a point of returning early, fit and fresh. Amorim arrived during a winter international break, and, having not been selected by England, Rashford decided to take a holiday in the U.S. instead. Sources familiar with the situation say he didn't technically break any rules but rather took advantage of the change of regime: Ruud van Nistelrooy had already signed off from his caretaker spell, and Amorim hadn't yet had time to set his own regulations.

The Portuguese coach publicly played down the criticism of Rashford's trip, but it didn't go down well. Sources close to Amorim said the incident only served to reinforce what he already knew.

After agreeing to take the job, he set about doing research on all the players he was about to inherit, and the disclosures on Rashford were mixed at best. There were reports of mood swings and petulance that had frustrated other United managers. On one occasion, Rashford left the engine of his car running while fulfilling media duties despite being told it might be best to turn it off because the upcoming weekend was being used to promote the Premier League's climate change campaign.

Some of the stories, according to team sources, led Amorim to believe that Rashford was fortunate to still be at the club -- let alone be offered a lucrative new contract in July 2023. At the time, United believed investing heavily in Rashford was worth any associated risk. He was the club's undisputed star in terms of media interest and shirt sales, and he'd just completed his best season as a professional, with 30 goals and nine assists in 56 appearances across all competitions.

The expectation was that Rashford would continue on his upward trajectory. He was initially given the benefit of the doubt -- starting and scoring in Amorim's first game against Ipswich -- but it didn't last long. Amorim and his staff quickly became irked by some of Rashford's lacklustre performances in training, and they believed they had the data to back it up.

During a Europa League trip to FC Viktoria Plzen in December, Rashford was needlessly booked just before halftime. He dived into another challenge soon after the break and was substituted shortly afterwards. Sources said the incident annoyed Amorim because it was something Rashford had been warned about before. Dropped for the Manchester derby at the Etihad three days later, he hasn't played for United since.

Rashford reportedly believes Amorim has got the wrong impression and disputes the idea he doesn't work as hard as he could or that he can, at times, appear disconnected with the rest of the dressing room. There's also a feeling that the spotlight shines more brightly on him than on anyone else, as shown by the volume of media coverage about his personal life since he burst onto the scene at 18. The club investigated reports of his behaviour away from Carrington during Ten Hag's time in charge and found many accusations to be baseless.

According to sources, Rashford remained professional during his spell out of the team under Amorim and took on extra training/gym sessions to try to win him over. Only it didn't work, with Amorim since telling people close to him that the decision to let Rashford leave was "easy."

Rashford, according to those close to him, hasn't given up hope of returning to United. There's an acceptance that the loan move to Villa has done him good, but he remains open in terms of what happens next. There was interest from Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan in January and tentative conversations with Barcelona. Milan, according to sources, were only willing to pay half of Rashford's wage. Dortmund couldn't even match that. Juventus enquired about the financial commitment they would need to make and immediately walked away.

United have tried to be as diplomatic as possible so as not to burn any bridges. Club communication staff have managed questions about Rashford's departure carefully, and on one occasion they asked for quotes on the subject from Amorim to be toned down. It's not unusual for the club to ask for part of interviews to be pulled, and the situation with Rashford is particularly delicate. The view from inside United is that they must prepare for every eventuality ahead of what is a crucial summer for the club and for Rashford.

On Tuesday, Rashford will return to Manchester for the first time since his United exile when Villa take on City at the Etihad on Tuesday. Whether he'll be back again in the summer remains undecided.

ESPN 100 senior Shelton Henderson, who decommitted from Duke last week, announced his commitment to Miami on Monday.

Henderson will follow former Duke assistant Jai Lucas, who was hired last month as Miami's new head coach. He committed and signed with the Blue Devils back in November, but he received his release and reopened his recruitment last week.

A powerfully built 6-foot-6 small forward from Bellaire High School (Texas), Henderson is ranked No. 30 in the ESPN 100 for the 2025 class. He earned a gold medal with USA Basketball at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup last summer, averaging 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in six games off the bench. Henderson also averaged 14.8 points and 6.3 rebounds on the EYBL circuit in the spring and 14.7 points and 4.6 rebounds at the Nike Peach Jam in July.

Following his play in the spring and at the USA Basketball trials, Duke extended a scholarship offer in June and made him a priority in July. Lucas, along with head coach Jon Scheyer, were Henderson's primary recruiters.

Henderson was one of four top-30 signees for Duke, combining with five-star recruits Cameron Boozer (No. 3), Nikolas Khamenia (No. 15) and Cayden Boozer (No. 16) to form the nation's No. 1 recruiting class.

He's now the second top-50 recruit for Lucas at Miami, after former Villanova commit Dante Allen opted for the Hurricanes earlier this month. Slovakian wing Timotej Malovec joined the recruiting class last week, while Miami has also landed four transfers: Tre Donaldson (Michigan), Malik Reneau (Indiana), Ernest Udeh (TCU) and Tru Washington (New Mexico).

Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard has been upgraded to questionable for Tuesday's Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers, the team announced on Monday.

Lillard has been out since March 18 with a blood clot in his right calf and missed the Bucks' 117-98 loss to Indiana in Game 1. The Bucks listed him as questionable due to return to competition reconditioning.

Lillard participated in his first full practice Thursday after being cleared of deep vein thrombosis and stopping blood-thinning medication. Deep vein thrombosis is an abnormal clot within a vessel where the congealing of blood blocks the flow through on the way back to the heart.

Doctors have told Bucks officials that the speed of Lillard's recovery has never been seen before, but it occurred because of early treatment, detection and specialists working on him before a formal diagnosis, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania. Lillard began blood-thinning medication well before the March 25 diagnosis of the blood clot.

A nine-time NBA All-Star, Lillard averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 assists in 58 games this season. He averaged 31.3 points, 5.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds during the playoffs for the Bucks last season.

The Seattle Kraken have fired coach Dan Bylsma after one season, the team announced Monday.

Bylsma was fired after guiding the Kraken (35-41-6) in a single campaign that saw them finish 20 points out of the final Western Conference wild-card spot and miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season.

"We thank Dan for his commitment and the energy he brought to our organization over the past four years at the NHL and AHL levels," Kraken general manager Ron Francis said in a statement. "After a thorough review of the season and our expectations for next year and beyond, we've made the difficult decision to move in a different direction behind the bench."

This now means the Kraken will be searching for their third head coach in as many seasons having fired Dave Hakstol last offseason.

Bylsma previously coached the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins. It was in Pittsburgh that he saw his most success, winning the Stanley Cup in his first year on the job in the 2008-09 season, and then winning the Jack Adams Award as the league's top coach in the 2010-11 season.

Before being hired as the Kraken's head coach, Bylsma spent the previous two seasons as the head coach of the team's AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

The Kraken now join a slew of teams seeking a new bench boss this offseason. On Monday, Vancouver Canucks president Jim Rutherford told reporters that the team declined to pick up the option on coach Rick Tocchet, but offered him a new, more lucrative deal in the hopes that he'll stay and not head elsewhere. Over the weekend, the New York Rangers fired Peter Laviolette and the Anaheim Ducks fired Greg Cronin.

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors on Monday proposed deleting 153 longstanding rules from its handbook, a move that will allow schools to share financial benefits directly with players -- an expected step towards a new era of amateurism in college athletics, but one that remains contingent upon the approval of the House settlement.

NCAA board members met for about four hours on Monday and emerged with nine major proposed legislative changes, including permission for schools to provide direct financial payments to players, including for use of their NIL. NCAA leaders are aiming to reshape the organization's role and are poised to effectuate sweeping changes by July 1 if the settlement is approved. Schools have until June 15 to decide whether to opt to provide benefits that would be permissible under the settlement for the coming academic year.

Proposed legislation also includes sport-specific roster limits and allowing full scholarships to all student-athletes on a declared roster -- a move the NCAA said will double the scholarships available in women's sports.

The proposed changes would also align with the expected House settlement in that it would allow Power 4 schools and others who choose to offer settlement-related benefits to provide up to $20.5 million in direct financial benefits to players. (Not all Division I schools will choose to operate in the new system enabled by the settlement, as the Ivy League has chosen to opt out and continue to operate under the current structure.)

The new NIL clearinghouse and enforcement arm that aims to coexist with expected settlement terms was also included, along with rules "intended to bring clarity and stability to the NIL environment for all Division I schools." To prevent schools from trying to circumvent the $20.5 million cap, the NCAA has proposed rules to help add stability and accountability. All players will be required to disclose their NIL agreements if they are greater or equal to $600. Agreements between the player and a third party outside of their school will be reviewed.

The board also approved new rules that would create technology platforms for the schools to monitor their payments to players and for the athletes to report their third-party NIL agreements. There are also steps the players can take if an NIL agreement is considered "outside of the range of compensation" developed by the external, independent clearinghouse.

An enforcement group that will be created and operated by the defendant conferences will aim to "provide oversight for rules relating to the terms of the settlement, including third-party NIL and the annual benefits cap," according to the NCAA.

Players will still be allowed to hire agents for NIL purposes, but the NCAA will still use certain eligibility rules that have been used to "distinguish Division I athletics from professional sports," according to a document that summarizes the legislative changes. For the athletes to receive these benefits, the NCAA will require them to be enrolled full-time, meet Division I progress-toward-degree requirements and earn the benefits during their five-year eligibility period.

Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg, the Wooden Award winner and projected No. 1 pick, is officially entering the NBA draft, he announced Monday.

Flagg released a video on social media.

"Duke fans, my teammates, the brotherhood, everybody that was along for the journey. It was an incredible year, probably the best year of my life and I have so much gratitude and I feel so blessed for all the opportunities that I was given. Duke has always been a dream for me, but I'm excited to announce that I'll be entering my name into the 2025 NBA draft," he said.

"Today is just the beginning, but I have the Brotherhood with me for life."

Flagg, the former No. 1 prospect in the 2024 high school class, has been considered the prohibitive favorite to be drafted first overall in the 2025 NBA draft since he became eligible upon reclassifying in August 2023.

The 6-foot-9 forward then went on to average 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists during his lone season at Duke, leading the Blue Devils to a 35-4 record and a Final Four appearance.

"Really proud of Cooper for the special season that he had this year," Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. "I think the accolades speak for itself, with what he did, winning every National Player of the Year award. His highlights, his statistics, the ways he impacted the game on both ends of the floor, really in every category, was off the charts. As good of a freshman season that a guy has had here.

"But to me, the separator and the joy of coaching Cooper is the person he was every day, the teammate that he was. Never about statistics or anything other than creating an environment and helping his team to win. And we won a lot of games and had a lot of success and a lot of times that environment is created from your best player. And Cooper did an incredible job in every facet of our program, on and off the court, with what he's done."

Flagg backed up the preseason hype with a strong showing during nonconference play, but he really hit his stride during ACC competition in January. He averaged 25.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists that month, shooting 57.9% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range.

His statement performance came against Notre Dame in January, when he set the ACC freshman record for points in a game after going for 42 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists in a win over the Fighting Irish.

Flagg suffered an ankle injury during the ACC tournament, but returned to form in the NCAA tournament -- including a 30-point, 6-rebound, 7-assist effort in a Sweet 16 win over Arizona.

He was the consensus National Player of the Year and became only the fourth freshman to win the Wooden Award.

The Atlanta Hawks fired general manager Landry Fields on Monday and promoted Onsi Saleh to fill the position.

The team also initiated a search for a president of basketball operations following a 40-42 season that ended with Friday's overtime loss to the visiting Miami Heat in the NBA play-in tournament.

Fields, 36, joined the Hawks as an assistant general manager in October 2020 and was promoted to GM in June 2022. Atlanta fell in the first round of the playoffs in his first season in 2022-23 before missing the playoffs the past two seasons, posting an overall record of 117-129 in his tenure.

"I would genuinely like to thank Landry for his leadership during his time with us. Landry made our franchise better and left contributions that have positioned us for growth," principal owner Tony Ressler said. "I am grateful for his dedication and wish him success in his next endeavor."

Fields and the Hawks drafted Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft. The French forward averaged 12.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 75 games (73 starts) during his rookie campaign.

Saleh joined Atlanta in May 2024 after three seasons with the Golden State Warriors, finishing his time there as the vice president of basketball strategy and team counsel. He previously spent five years in the San Antonio Spurs' front office.

Saleh will oversee all day-to-day basketball operations, effective immediately.

"Every offseason we evaluate how we operate and ways we can improve our organization," Ressler said. "As we enter this pivotal offseason, we have several complex decisions ahead of us, and we are committed to providing the human and financial resources needed to ensure that we navigate these decisions with a high level of precision and foresight. Adding an accomplished, senior-level leader to provide strategic direction and structure as well as partnering with Onsi and our talented front office is a top priority."

Detroit Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart is out for Monday's Game 2 against the New York Knicks due to right knee inflammation.

Stewart sat out the final two games of the regular season due to inflammation in the knee and appeared to be struggling with the injury throughout Saturday's loss in Game 1. He finished with two points and five fouls in 19 minutes.

When Stewart was taken out of the game for the final time early in the fourth quarter, the Pistons were holding onto a 98-92 lead. They proceeded to give up a 21-0 run to the Knicks, who ran away with the game.

Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff said "there's a lot going on" with Stewart's injury after the game.

Stewart, 23, has been a key reserve for Detroit this year, averaging 6 points and 1.4 blocks in just under 20 minutes per game in the regular season.